Defending Champion:Tiger Woods defeated Bo Van Pelt by two shots to claim his second AT&T National championship. Woods is injured and is not in the field this year.

Dates: June 27-30

Notes: Course history buffs should remember that the 2010 and 2011 editions of this tournament took place at Aronomink Golf Club outside of Philadelphia as CCC was preparing for and hosting the U.S. Open.

History Lessons

There have been 26 tournaments this season. The Stars and Stripes have won 21 of them but Australian Adam Scott and Englishman Justin Rose have the two biggest trophies, the Masters and U.S. Open, respectively. Both players are Scott is in the field this week.

There have also been just two multiple winners, Woods (four) and Kuchar (WGC-Match Play; Memorial).

There have also been 10 first-time winners this season. There have also been just two multiple winners, Woods (four) and Kuchar (WGC-Match Play; Memorial). There were only nine first-time winners in 2012.

The winners on TOUR have been Johnson, D (28), Henley (24), Gay (41), Woods FOUR times (37), Mickelson (42), Snedeker (32), Merrick (30) Kuchar TWICE (34),Thompson, M (27) Brown (29), Streelman (34), Points (36), Laird (30), Scott (32), G-Mac (33), Horschel (26), Ernst (22), Bae (26), Weekley (39) English (23), Rose (32) and now Duke (44). The young folks (30 and younger) now have 10 victories; the 30-somethings have racked up a a baker’s dozen, 13 victories, and the “old folks” (40 and up) now have three wins on the year as Duke answered the bell last week.

AT&T National replaced The International on the PGA TOUR calendar in the summer of 2007.

Rank and File

There are 12 11 of the OWGR top 50 in the field this week as of Monday lunch. Justin Rose WD Monday afternoon.

Of Course

Congressional Country Club has been the host of three U.S. Opens, a PGA Championship and a U.S. Senior Open since its opening in 1924. The first president of the club was sitting President Herbert Hoover so there’s plenty of history around these hallowed grounds. The AT&T National made its debut here in 2007 but it was forced to relocate in 2010 and 2011 as CCC tore out all of the Poa annua greens and replaced them with Bentgrass greens for the 2011 U.S. Open.

The AT&T National returned “home” in 2012 and was vanquished by awful weather Friday evening which caused the course to be closed to spectators on Saturday because of extensive damage on and around the course. Tiger Woods held off Bo Van Pelt for his second victory at this event.

The Blue Course plays a large 7,569 yards to par 71 so we’ll need to find some guys who can get it down the fairway. With the rough playing up to four inches off the fairway and around the greens, I believe that ball-strikers could have the advantage this week. The premium putters will also have their say if they keep these greens at 14 or better on the Stimpmeter. Last year, the leaderboard was balanced with both sets and the top two guys were pretty good in the all-around. CCC was the third-most difficult course on TOUR in 2012.

The tough angle for gamers this week is how to evaluate play at this tournament and on this course. I believe you can throw out the results from 2007-2009 because putting on Poa annua greens is the EXACT OPPOSITE of putting on Bentgrass that is running 14.5’ on the Stimpmeter. If you are going to use the U.S. Open as a reference point, please remember they set up Congressional after taking on torrential rains. Here’s my advice: Find players who are in form and play difficult courses well.

Best 10, Plus One

Adam Scott: It seems like he only signs up to play on the toughest tracks and this week won’t be any different as the Masters champion tries to improve on his solo third here last year. He’s a beast when it comes to ball-striking and he also resides in the top 50 in strokes gained-putting. If he’s in the field, he’s on this list.

Jason Day: After finishing third at Augusta and T2 two week ago at Merion, it’s hardly a surprise why Day is rated so highly this week. He hits it a mile and is 32nd in scrambling and 32 in total putting, two very useful stats this week. He was second to McIlroy here in the U.S. Open and was T8 last year.

Brandt Snedeker: His June started off MC, MC but his weekend 70-72 at Merion should reignite his 2013. He’ll be one of the few guys who will be drooling at the fact that the greens this week will be running +14 on the Stimpmeter as that plays into his advantage. He’s 16th in driving accuracy, 17th in GIR and 22nd in strokes gained-putting. Oh, and he’s 27th in scrambling.

Billy Horschel: The sky is the absolute limit for this young man. He’s fearless, cocksure and has the game to back most of it up. Anybody who wears squid trousers on the final day of his national championship must have some large balls in his golf bag. Sure, this is a course where veteran, big-name players have won but you write Horschel off at your own peril. He’s made 15 weekends and seven of those have resulted in top 10s including T4 at Merion and T10 at FESJC in his last two.

Graham DeLaet: On a course where ball-striking is essentially in the No. 1 requirement, it would be quite daft of me not to have on the No. 1 ball-striker on TOUR on my list again this week. After a very solid performance last week, course history goes out the window this week as DeLaet is playing very well. He’s seen six consecutive weekends and the last five have been T26 or better and that includes two top 10s. #hotpotato

Hunter Mahan: Stop me if you’ve read this before. Mahan has seen six consecutive weeks and the last five have been T26 or better and that includes a top 10 at the U.S. Open. Mahan finished T8 here in 2007, T12 in 2008 and T8 here last year. His ball-striking, scrambling and putting has been a pretty good fit at Congressional. After a serious lull in late March/early April, Mahan looks to be heading in the right direction.

Charley Hoffman: Another player whose recent form has been eye-catching, Hoffman was the 54-hole leader at RBC Heritage and TPC River Highlands this year before his final round slowed him down. He finished T6 after 77 at Harbour Towne and was T7 last week in Connecticut. He sits sixth in the all-around ranking and is brimming with confidence.

Bill Haas: Even though he’s missed three of the last four weekends that he’s entered, Haas has still racked up six top 10s and nine top 25s in 11 starts this year. His MCs were Quail Hollow, THE PLAYERS and the U.S. Open but he sandwiched a T4 at the Memorial in that run. He’s 34th in ball-striking, 23rd in scrambling and third in par-four performance.

Scott Stallings: After missing four consecutive weekends, Stallings hit the turbo button at the end of May and rattled off finishes of T4, T4 and T2 before succumbing to Merion with T53. His total package on multiple styles of golf courses has impressed me and I think he’ll be right in the thick of things again this weekend based on that form.

Ryan Palmer: The Texan is another player who makes his living on Bentgrass greens and he should also be excited at the possibility of slick greens come the weekend. He’s plenty long off the tee and hits plenty of GIR to give him birdie chances. He’s 37th in ball-striking and 25th in total putting and he should be rested after missing the weekend at Merion his last time out.

Rickie Fowler: His game has sprung to life in the past two weekends as he fired the low round of Saturday at the U.S. Open (67) and the second-lowest round last Sunday (64) at TPC River Highlands. He’ll enjoy the tight driving conditions and if his iron play is average, his above-average short game and putting will come in handy. He won’t have to worry about playing the final round with Tiger Woods either so he has that going for him, which is nice.

Defending Champion:Tiger Woods defeated Bo Van Pelt by two shots to claim his second AT&T National championship. Woods is injured and is not in the field this year.

Dates: June 27-30

Notes: Course history buffs should remember that the 2010 and 2011 editions of this tournament took place at Aronomink Golf Club outside of Philadelphia as CCC was preparing for and hosting the U.S. Open.

History Lessons

There have been 26 tournaments this season. The Stars and Stripes have won 21 of them but Australian Adam Scott and Englishman Justin Rose have the two biggest trophies, the Masters and U.S. Open, respectively. Both players are Scott is in the field this week.

There have also been just two multiple winners, Woods (four) and Kuchar (WGC-Match Play; Memorial).

There have also been 10 first-time winners this season. There have also been just two multiple winners, Woods (four) and Kuchar (WGC-Match Play; Memorial). There were only nine first-time winners in 2012.

The winners on TOUR have been Johnson, D (28), Henley (24), Gay (41), Woods FOUR times (37), Mickelson (42), Snedeker (32), Merrick (30) Kuchar TWICE (34),Thompson, M (27) Brown (29), Streelman (34), Points (36), Laird (30), Scott (32), G-Mac (33), Horschel (26), Ernst (22), Bae (26), Weekley (39) English (23), Rose (32) and now Duke (44). The young folks (30 and younger) now have 10 victories; the 30-somethings have racked up a a baker’s dozen, 13 victories, and the “old folks” (40 and up) now have three wins on the year as Duke answered the bell last week.

AT&T National replaced The International on the PGA TOUR calendar in the summer of 2007.

Rank and File

There are 12 11 of the OWGR top 50 in the field this week as of Monday lunch. Justin Rose WD Monday afternoon.

Of Course

Congressional Country Club has been the host of three U.S. Opens, a PGA Championship and a U.S. Senior Open since its opening in 1924. The first president of the club was sitting President Herbert Hoover so there’s plenty of history around these hallowed grounds. The AT&T National made its debut here in 2007 but it was forced to relocate in 2010 and 2011 as CCC tore out all of the Poa annua greens and replaced them with Bentgrass greens for the 2011 U.S. Open.

The AT&T National returned “home” in 2012 and was vanquished by awful weather Friday evening which caused the course to be closed to spectators on Saturday because of extensive damage on and around the course. Tiger Woods held off Bo Van Pelt for his second victory at this event.

The Blue Course plays a large 7,569 yards to par 71 so we’ll need to find some guys who can get it down the fairway. With the rough playing up to four inches off the fairway and around the greens, I believe that ball-strikers could have the advantage this week. The premium putters will also have their say if they keep these greens at 14 or better on the Stimpmeter. Last year, the leaderboard was balanced with both sets and the top two guys were pretty good in the all-around. CCC was the third-most difficult course on TOUR in 2012.

The tough angle for gamers this week is how to evaluate play at this tournament and on this course. I believe you can throw out the results from 2007-2009 because putting on Poa annua greens is the EXACT OPPOSITE of putting on Bentgrass that is running 14.5’ on the Stimpmeter. If you are going to use the U.S. Open as a reference point, please remember they set up Congressional after taking on torrential rains. Here’s my advice: Find players who are in form and play difficult courses well.

Best 10, Plus One

Adam Scott: It seems like he only signs up to play on the toughest tracks and this week won’t be any different as the Masters champion tries to improve on his solo third here last year. He’s a beast when it comes to ball-striking and he also resides in the top 50 in strokes gained-putting. If he’s in the field, he’s on this list.

Jason Day: After finishing third at Augusta and T2 two week ago at Merion, it’s hardly a surprise why Day is rated so highly this week. He hits it a mile and is 32nd in scrambling and 32 in total putting, two very useful stats this week. He was second to McIlroy here in the U.S. Open and was T8 last year.

Brandt Snedeker: His June started off MC, MC but his weekend 70-72 at Merion should reignite his 2013. He’ll be one of the few guys who will be drooling at the fact that the greens this week will be running +14 on the Stimpmeter as that plays into his advantage. He’s 16th in driving accuracy, 17th in GIR and 22nd in strokes gained-putting. Oh, and he’s 27th in scrambling.

Billy Horschel: The sky is the absolute limit for this young man. He’s fearless, cocksure and has the game to back most of it up. Anybody who wears squid trousers on the final day of his national championship must have some large balls in his golf bag. Sure, this is a course where veteran, big-name players have won but you write Horschel off at your own peril. He’s made 15 weekends and seven of those have resulted in top 10s including T4 at Merion and T10 at FESJC in his last two.

Graham DeLaet: On a course where ball-striking is essentially in the No. 1 requirement, it would be quite daft of me not to have on the No. 1 ball-striker on TOUR on my list again this week. After a very solid performance last week, course history goes out the window this week as DeLaet is playing very well. He’s seen six consecutive weekends and the last five have been T26 or better and that includes two top 10s. #hotpotato

Hunter Mahan: Stop me if you’ve read this before. Mahan has seen six consecutive weeks and the last five have been T26 or better and that includes a top 10 at the U.S. Open. Mahan finished T8 here in 2007, T12 in 2008 and T8 here last year. His ball-striking, scrambling and putting has been a pretty good fit at Congressional. After a serious lull in late March/early April, Mahan looks to be heading in the right direction.

Charley Hoffman: Another player whose recent form has been eye-catching, Hoffman was the 54-hole leader at RBC Heritage and TPC River Highlands this year before his final round slowed him down. He finished T6 after 77 at Harbour Towne and was T7 last week in Connecticut. He sits sixth in the all-around ranking and is brimming with confidence.

Bill Haas: Even though he’s missed three of the last four weekends that he’s entered, Haas has still racked up six top 10s and nine top 25s in 11 starts this year. His MCs were Quail Hollow, THE PLAYERS and the U.S. Open but he sandwiched a T4 at the Memorial in that run. He’s 34th in ball-striking, 23rd in scrambling and third in par-four performance.

Scott Stallings: After missing four consecutive weekends, Stallings hit the turbo button at the end of May and rattled off finishes of T4, T4 and T2 before succumbing to Merion with T53. His total package on multiple styles of golf courses has impressed me and I think he’ll be right in the thick of things again this weekend based on that form.

Ryan Palmer: The Texan is another player who makes his living on Bentgrass greens and he should also be excited at the possibility of slick greens come the weekend. He’s plenty long off the tee and hits plenty of GIR to give him birdie chances. He’s 37th in ball-striking and 25th in total putting and he should be rested after missing the weekend at Merion his last time out.

Rickie Fowler: His game has sprung to life in the past two weekends as he fired the low round of Saturday at the U.S. Open (67) and the second-lowest round last Sunday (64) at TPC River Highlands. He’ll enjoy the tight driving conditions and if his iron play is average, his above-average short game and putting will come in handy. He won’t have to worry about playing the final round with Tiger Woods either so he has that going for him, which is nice.

Form and Function

These players just missed out but should not be dismissed.

Russell Henley: His last three MCs are the Masters, THE PLAYERS and the U.S. Open so it’s hardly time to panic. He hits plenty of fairways but it’s his putter that is the sword that slices and dices up greens. Henley sits ninth in strokes gained-putting and is sixth in total putting. He’s 13th in the all-around ranking and is having a fantastic rookie season. He was T68 at the U.S. Open here in 2011 as an amateur (+4).

Nicolas Colsaerts: He’s in here this week because he’s seen this course before in 2011 U.S. Open so he won’t be walking in blind like he does most weeks on TOUR. You saw at Merion that he can overpower a course and at 7,569 he’ll need every bit of it this week. His short game leaves plenty to be desired but he’s 20th in GIR so he could factor.

Bo Van Pelt: At this stage last season, BVP had already racked up six top 10s. This season, he has exactly one so he finds himself on the secondary list this week even though he was second here last year. His ball-striking and putting are both off the pace he set last year but he has too much game not to break out of this.

John Huh: His formula for bisecting fairways and getting up-and-down held up to the tune of T17 at the U.S. Open and T17 here last year. This tells me that the length doesn’t bother him and neither does playing tough courses. Huh quietly finished T11 at Augusta as well.

Kevin Chappell: “Mr. U.S. Open” finally DIDN’T finish in the top 10 this year at Merion but that doesn’t rule out his penchant for playing tough courses well. He was in the top 10 at Congressional in 2011 and at Olympic in 2012 plus solo second this year at Memorial. He’s still looking for some consistency in his putter that will pair up with his solid ball-striking to put him over the top.

David Hearn: The other Canadian on the radar this week might have not made as much noise recently as DeLaet but he has finished T21, T18 and T21 (U.S. Open) in his last three starts. He’s going to hit first from the fairway most of the week but he’ll be taking the least amount of putts as he’s ninth on TOUR in total putting.

Jimmy Walker: His MC in Memphis was his first in 25 events on TOUR so that’s a clue that Walker has been playing quite well over the last 12 months. He didn’t qualify for the U.S. Open and he didn’t play last week so he should be rested and ready to go at Congressional. His overall game is solid enough to contend each week and is still looking for that first win.

Pat Perez: He’s been T29 or better in three trips around Congressional and he sits 23rd in GIR. He’s coming off T8 his last time out at Memorial. When form meets course history…

Angel Cabrera: The theory on Cabrera is that he would go away after racking up P2 at the Masters earlier this year but that has been far from the case. He won a tournament in Argentina the following week and has banged out five weekends from his last six since his playoff loss. He’s hit the top 12 twice including his T9 finish after closing with 63 last Sunday at the Travelers. I’ll ride the current form over the usual trend.

Patrick Reed: He’s now made five weekends in a row that he’s teed it up on Thursdays and none of these have been from Monday qualifiers. This has been his longest streak of cuts made so I’m going to take a chance on the youngster continuing his fine play.

Take It Deep

Long shots.

Stuart Appleby: He was in here last week and he’s in here again this week after his T9 at the Travelers. He’s now made eight cuts in a row but this was just the first top 10 (or top 25) in that stretch so I’m not bumping him up just yet. He was a nice catch in the GolfChannel.com fantasy game last week!

J.J. Henry: He’s 31st in fairways hit and 16th in GIR so there are definitely worse choices you can make this week when panning for gold. He’s made four weekends on the bounce and his T5 last week in Connecticut was his best finish since he won Reno-Tahoe last year. He also was a nice GolfChannel.com fantasy game performer for me!

Ricky Barnes: He’s only made eight cuts from 19 starts this season and half of those are T20 or better, hence why he falls in this section. His T13 finish last week can’t hurt and neither will his ability to load up GIR. He’s currently eighth on TOUR in that category. Just don’t ask him to chip and putt consistently!

Jonas Blixt: He’s trending in the right direction with seven of his last eight rounds par or better. He’s made three cuts in a row and five from six. His putting numbers are off this season (75th in strokes gained-putting) but there’s no question that his flat stick (second in strokes gained-putting in 2012) could snap him out of it.

Shawn Stefani: Another player who’s played well on tight courses in Tampa and Memphis, Stefani hits it a mile and can make a few putts as well. He showed me some guts his last time out at the U.S. Open as he backed his Saturday 85 with 69 on Sunday.

Camilo Villegas: He’s made five weekends in a row but, like Appleby, only has one top 10 (or top 25) to show for it. He’s 21st in the all-around and 34th in scoring average so there are much worse fliers you could have in deep drafts.

Brendon Todd: He’s scrambling for starts but he’s taking advantage of the ones he’s been given. He’s four out of five on the season and his last two HPBNC he clocked a T17 and he was T18 in Memphis.

Robert Garrigus: No top 10s since February and one top 25 since April moves Garrigus down here. Missing three of his last four cuts (other was WD) doesn’t help either. He was T4 here last year and T3 at the 2011 U.S. Open. Huge risk could result in huge reward.

Morgan Hoffmann: I was a week early on Hoffmann at the U.S. Open but last week he rang up another top 10 last weekend at the Travelers, his second of the season. I’ll always take a flier on a young kid with confidence over a crusty veteran that you “hope” comes good this week. Down here, you’re looking for top 25s, not victories.

Pack Lightly

Just because they have well-recognized names doesn’t always mean you have to panic to fill your roster out with them…Also, it seems at least one of these guys will hit the top 10 EVERY week. I’m not scared.

Nick Watney: He looks great on the history books here but something is obviously not clicking in the now. His coach, Butch Harmon, quit twitter after opining that something that in his personal life might be holding his game back after his 82-77 at Memorial. Watney backed that up with 73-78 at the U.S. Open.

Sang-Moon Bae: In the four events after his victory at HPBNC Bae has finished T76, MC, MC and MC.

S.Y. Noh: He has one top 25 in 18 events in 2013 so his T4 from 2012 carries less weight as he continues to change his swing with Sean Foley.

Jim Furyk: After T7 and T3 in late March and early April, Furyk’s best finish in six events has been T21. I thought Merion would set up perfectly for him. Now, add 500 yards…

Rookie of the Week Last Week

I keep an eye on the youngin’s each week to see who is making the most noise.

Hunter Mahan-- He has played well lately with a T4 at the US Open being the recent highlight. He has a solid record at the AT&T National at Congressional with four finishes inside the top 12.

Graham DeLaet-- He looked great last week at the Travelers in his solo third place finish, which was only a stroke out of a playoff.

Bo Van Pelt-- Van Pelt has been a top 25 machine this year and he finished runner up here last year.

Scott Stallings-- I'm going back to the well one more time. His US Open performance was a bit of a disappointment, but before that he was one of the hottest players on the Tour with three consecutive top 4 finishes.

Jason Day-- His last two starts on this course are a second place at the '11 US Open and a T8 at last year's AT&T National. Day also looked great a couple of weeks ago at the US Open where he tied for second place.

Adam Scott-- You can use Billy Horschel to try to save a start on Scott, but I'm using Scott based his T3 here last year

Ned Brown is a long-time contributor for Rotoworld Golf. He’s had documented success in Yahoo!’s game for years. Even if you’re confident in your selections for that game, give his insight a read. Ned also provides us with his GolfChannel.com Fantasy Challenge selections as well!

“Pure Spin”

Points last week: 132

Points this year: 4,085

Overall Ranking: (656; 99th percentile)

Coming Wednesday

And the analysis doesn't end here. Rotoworld's Rob Bolton and I will be co-hosting a one-hour live chat WEDNESDAY at NOON ET. We will be breaking down the field at the AT&T National and answering your questions. Simply return to the golf home page to join in on the chatter. Don’t forget to follow Rob (http://twitter.com/RobBoltonGolf) and Glass (http://twitter.com/GlassWGCL) on Twitter.